The March of My Discontent


 

Winter really never came, but also seems to not want to go away. We got all the ugly parts of winter: high winds, snow squalls, subzero nights. And very little or none of the pretty parts: the angel soft snows, the fairy frost on the trees, the silence of a gentle blanket of powder.

We got the spring breakers who would rather be at the beach, and the families who found the snow not nice enough, and the prices too high. My vacation rental, on its first winter, had good attendance but most seemed happy to not ski, but thrilled with the hawks soaring over the fields and hills, and the birth of two new calves behind my property.

But not a good March for me. I developed a horrible case of inn keeper's thumb (skiers' thumb with a vengeance) which had my left hand and wrist not merely totally useless but terribly painful. Not only could I not use that hand but could not sleep and barely dress myself. As if sensing my disconnect my Microsoft Windows 10 computer failed. That was fine by me because I could not type, hold either camera to take photos, or make anyone understand what I could not do without screaming.  And it is to be noted I have a very high pain threshold. But there was nobody to call to take over my obligations. They were all too busy.

The hand is better after three weeks but not back to normal. I am, however, typing this, can text with both thumbs and yesterday wore jeans for the first time in three weeks. I dared to order material and plot (in moderation) a couple sewing projects. I am ignoring all the things on my todo list for the month of March. If I go there I will just cry. I have done enough of that for the year. In pain, contemplating surgery if this does not get better, grief caught up with me.

My sister was my triage consultant who answered all my questions about injuries. MedLine is just not the same. My sister always made me laugh in the face of despair. March was full of despair. And very little laughs. And so many people angry with me because I mentioned my limitations. Daily I had to drive through the tourists who could not drive in snow (yes it snowed), and do it without a seat belt because you cannot fasten it without a left hand. My macabre mind placated myself with lists of who had it worse, and how it could get worse.  Fortunately there were some bright lights in the darkness. People who understood and helped out with little things which became huge like stacking wood on my front porch, showing up to make beds, sharing stories of their thumb from hell. Coming to the studio and buying paintings. Wanting photographs of Angel Fire which were all hidden on the dead computer but forced me to ask the computer guy if he could get them off there and on to an external hard drive.

I know this is too long but it is way shorter than a list of the trials and tribulations of March. Next year I am just going to close up for this month. Oh, happy heavenly birthday Mom.

Comments

Post a Comment

I write for me but I care what my readers think. Please be polite and no scamming.

Popular posts from this blog

Polyethylene Packaging - a Dark Times Journal entry

Image
I was in the fourth grade when our family moved from El Paso, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We moved because I could not breathe the air there. I want to say they cracked petroleum there. But what did I know beyond the sky was sometimes yellow and I could not breathe. Mom was pregnant with Debbie, and Gary and I rode in the backseat separated by a round tank full of Dad's tropical fish. Dad had a job with Sealright, Inc which made paper milk cartons. Sealright was a polyethylene packing subsidiary of Phillips 66. The petroleum company. I was rather proud of myself for learning to say that, and to not laugh when adults would stare at me not knowing what to ask about that. Albuquerque smelled better. Then. Before all the freeways were built and the shape of the valley trapped the exhaust down near the ground in the winter months. We lived in the foothills. I could breathe. I learned that if I could see the air I could not. Still it was better than El Paso though I missed our trip...
Read more

Swimming

Image
For much of my college career my fitness workout was swimming on the B squad of the swim team. I remember it as the days before heated pools and women coaches. I also remember being so exhausted and cold I could only lean against the shower wall and throw up. Not exactly warm fuzzy images but I was in awesome shape. Needless to say it did not leave me with a overpowering desire to swim laps. Point of fact for years my swimming became really informal: Swimming to shore after the canoe tipped over, challenging my sister once a summer to across the lake and back, seeing how long I could back float without moving a muscle, and a scuba course. I also played around with other ways of staying fit: aerobics, bicycling, jogging, skiing and dance classes. All of which seem to be bad for the knees, back or feet. After my ski accident my physical therapist steered me back to the pool. Damn if I was going to swim laps! However, aqua fit was just getting rather seriously taken so I took it. It r...
Read more

The Pruning the Crown of Thorns

Image
Crown of Thorns Before I am a lover of Euphorbias . They are from the deserts of Southern Africa and Madagascar. They have evolved physical characteristics and forms similar to cacti of North and South America and are often incorrectly referred to as cacti. My big Crown of Thorns was one of my first of a growing collection of these succulents from the spurge family of Euphorbiaceae. I picked it up as a 6 inch plant in a New Iberia nursery when my sister and I were touring the northern gulf coast. I believe that was 15 years ago. I made an attempt at limiting its height a few years back to allow it to devote more energy to the new branches and make it a denser plant. That failed. And the height of the plant continued to challenge the window space and soon the long branches were leaning over and leaning against the window. I googled and found the proper way to prune this treasured plant. Still it was very difficult to cut off the four longer branches. Even with a plan. The f...
Read more